Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has officially cancelled "the rest of the HS2 project" meaning the line will now stop at the new Curzon Street Station in Birmingham.

Speaking at the annual Conservative Party Conference today, the PM said: "I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project and in its place we will reinvest every single penny (£36 billion) in hundreds of new transport projects."

The line will now stretch from Euston to the West Midlands - with HS2 no longer running the site at the station in the capital.

Mr Sunak continued: "Every region outside of London will receive the same or more government investment than they would have done under HS2, with quicker results."

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has promised to keep the £2 bus fare across the whole country.

Speculation has grown over the past few weeks that the Government will not continue with the latter phases of the line which would have seen it extend to Manchester via Crewe.

Phase 2a of HS2 was planned to connect the West Midlands to Crewe, with phase 2B connecting Crewe to Manchester.

HS2 has suffered from delays and spiralling costs, as well as widespread criticism on the effects the project would have on existing services. 

The news comes as local MP Sir Jeremy Wright has criticised the potential scrapping of the northern leg, saying the HS2 line only brings benefit if it extends beyond Birmingham.

Kenilworth Nub News has approached Sir Jeremy for further comment.

Corin Crane, chief executive of Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said scrapping the northern leg is an opportunity wasted and that the decision is the "opposite of levelling up".

He said: "This is an incredibly frustrating decision for businesses across the Midlands and the North of England and the fact that this two-week debate about whether it was speculation or not has been played out in public, is frankly insulting.

"Hundreds of thousands of hours have been wasted planning this project, community-changing regeneration plans are now not feasible along the route, businesses and residents have already been moved to clear the way for a line that will never appear and overseas investors will be looking at the UK in bewilderment.

"Now, we must start another decades-long planning process to get our infrastructure reform started and businesses across our region will continue to see their trucks stuck on motorways with no capacity for freight and their staff stuck on trains with no more capacity for passengers. This is the opposite of levelling up."